Thomas varnjjy



T. VARNEY.

Ore Washer. No. 62.983. Patented March 19,1867.

N. PETERS. Pholmlilhugmpher. Wnshinglon. D. C.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: v p

Be it known that I, THOMAS VJBNEY, of the city aridcounty of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented a. new and improved Concentratondesigned to be used'in concentrating pulverized ores; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which I i I i Figure 1. is substantially a plan or top view; and

Figure 2 is substantially a central vertical section view- Similar lettersof reference indicating corresponding parts in the different figures.

The most important part of my invention consistsof a; disk, A, the upper-surface of which declines from thecentre outwardly at an angle ofabout two anda half degrees. 7 The. surface shouldbe turned truein alath'e, and when in operation the plane of its periphery should be strictly horizontal orv level. Around the periphery of the disk is the trough B, its bottom being depressed considerably below and its outer-side extending some what above the upper surface of the disk .The surface of the disk, as well as the trough, is divided, except at the centre, into eight equal compartments by theradial partitions O. At each extremity of each compartment of the trough is a hole through the bottom of the trough. The holes at one extremity, at D, I call metal holes and those at E I call refusetholes. The metal holes are'furnishedwith thimbles' adjustable vcrticnlly.' The dish and trough are supported by the ribs F radiating from the hub (l in which .is-fixed the ventical shaft H, with its lower end stepped into the box I and its upper end'hcldby-thcjournal box J in-the stand K. The stand K rests upon and is bolted to the cross-timbers L, halved together at the centre. Between the arms of this cross is laid the floor M declining inward. U? is an arm projecting from the disk. '0 is a cam or ratchet-wheel, carried by the shaft P and pulley Q.. R is asolid stop, against which the projection U strikes Sisa spring pressing the projection U? against-tho stop B." At the centre of the disk is the hollow cone or distributor T. V is it funnel, the lower end of which fits the shaft H, by which it issnpported, with holes through it below the top of the hollow cone T. p, p i v i The operation is as follows: The ratchet-wheel 0 being revolved, one ofits teeth gradually presses the arm U back against the spring S until the tooth eseapesfthearm, when it (the arm) is thrown suddenly'forward'by the spring against the solid stop R, carrying the disk'with it. Now let the material to be concentrated, con sisting of pulverized ores, be mingled with waterand turned in a steady stream-into the'funnel V.- The pulp passes through the holes in the funnel intothehollo'w cone T and flows over its top at all points equally and runs down upon the several compartments of the disk. As the pulp descends it spreads and the water washes along and carries off the lighter and worthless particlcsof the ore into the trough B, and thence along the trough to and through the refuse holes E and pipes W into the waste .drain X, while the heavier particles con taining metal are gathered up against the partitions on theside of the compartments, where the metal holes 1) are, and gradually work down the disk into the metal holes and thence into the receptacles Y. The reason of this gathering of the heavierlparticl'es to'the metal holes is this: On account of their superior weight, the heavy particles do not move easily. 1 The steepness of the disk and the current of water are such as to just fail in running them on, but sufiicient to run oil the light particles. Neither does the gentle movement of the dish against the spring disturb the heavy particle s, nor its movement with the spring, until the oecurren'ce of the shock against the stop, when they are shot forward, by their momentum toward the metal hole side. Again, while the heavy particles are at rest on the disk ,the current does not affect .them, but as soon as they receive the lateral motionfrom the shock the current is enabled to move them downward, so that their resultant motion or true line of travel is diagonal toward the metal holes. The-tops of the thimbles should be a little higher than the adjacent surface of the disk. The eifect of elevating the thimbles,.other things being equal, is to increase the purity of the portion of the ore concentrated, and vice verse. I All the metallic particles do notgo directly to the metal holes, as abdvc described, but some of them, especially the lighter ones, get into the trough, where they arrange themselves so as to form an inclined plane from the top of the thimbles toward the refuse hole, down which the water and lighterparticles float and. up which the metallic particles work themselves into the metal holes.

It is impossible to give definite clirections as to the speed, or throw of the cam, or tension of the spring, or height of the thimbles, or rapidity of feed, or relative proportion of ore andn'eter proper to secure the best results in concentrating ores of different kinds and tleg rees'bf fineness, but all these things can be easily regulated by observing the operation of the machine and its results.

Having thus described my inventie'n, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The use of the disk A, divided into compartments.

. 2. The trough B, all constructed in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

THOMAS VARNEY.

Witnesses:

ALFRED RIX, THEODORE H. HITTELL. 

